Page 26 of Savage Spades

Kit stood to his feet, waiting for what the man would do next.

Cam shook her head. “Get the fuck out of my bar.” She reached to grab his empty shot glass, but he grabbed her arm as she tried to pull it away.

Kit’s jaw clenched. He took two steps and was immediately in front of the man.

“Let her go,” he said.

The man dropped her arm and stood up from the stool. The man was taller than Kit but nowhere near his size. He smelled like a brewery and had probably gotten cut off at another bar before coming here.

“You think…you’re tough guy?” the man slurred. He pulled his fist back, but Kit acted first.

He pushed against the man’s chest, causing his unbalanced body to slam against the bar. Kit grabbed him by the collar of the shirt. The man twisted back and forth, trying to get loose as Kit dragged him toward the exit. He opened the door and pushed the man outside so he fell on the warm sidewalk.

“You come back here, it’s going to be a lot worse.”

Kit slammed the door on the man, and when he turned around, Cam was looking at him with wide eyes.

The older man at the end of the bar placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Thanks for that,” Cam said as he got closer.

“That’s why I’m here.”

She smiled. “You want some food?”

“Yeah, what you got?”

Chapter Eleven

Cam

“What are you drawing?” Kit asked her before plopping a fry in his mouth. She caught the flash of his tongue ring as he ate.

“Something for school.”

He reached across the bar and slid the notebook towards him before she was able to stop him.

“A butterfly?” he asked.

Her cheeks heated up.

“It’s for school,” she repeated, trying to grab it from his hands, but he kept it out of her reach.

“You draw?” He raised an eyebrow at her, and she wished she knew what he was thinking.

“Sometimes, but this is for a project. I just have to map it out before I replicate it on the computer.”

He studied the drawing for a moment. Each minute that passed made her palms more sweaty.

“Can you just--”

“Draw me a tattoo,” he said.

“What?” she asked, obviously mishearing him.

He set the notebook down on the bar and slid it back to Cam. “I’ve wanted some new ink anyway.” He rolled up his sleeve and showed her an unmarked piece of skin.

“I can’t--”

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